Waterfalls in Iceland
Water is everywhere in Iceland, and so are the places where it falls. In Icelandic a waterfall is a foss, which is why the word ends nearly every name below. No one knows exactly how many there are — the figure usually given is over 10,000 — because most are small, seasonal, or simply unnamed, and new ones keep appearing as the glaciers retreat.
How many waterfalls are in Iceland?
There is no exact count, and there cannot be one. The number usually cited is more than 10,000, but that is an estimate, not a survey: most of Iceland's waterfalls are small, unnamed, or seasonal, and where you draw the line between a rapid and a fall changes the total. Few countries have more waterfalls per square kilometre.
The count also keeps changing. Many falls run only in spring and summer on snowmelt, then dry up or freeze; and new ones appear as glaciers retreat — Morsárfoss, now Iceland's tallest, only emerged around 2007 as the ice above it melted back.
The tallest waterfalls in Iceland
For most of the last century Glymur (~198 m), at the head of Hvalfjörður, was considered Iceland's tallest. Then a far higher cascade, Morsárfoss (~228 m), became visible around 2007 as the Morsárjökull glacier retreated, and took the title — though as a young, glacier-fed fall its measured height may still change.
- Morsárfoss — ~228 m — Iceland's tallest, revealed by glacier retreat around 2007
- Glymur — ~198 m — the long-time record-holder, at Hvalfjörður in the west
- Hengifoss — ~128 m — in the east, striped with red clay layers
- Háifoss — ~122 m — in the Highlands, beside its neighbour Granni (~101 m)
- Dynjandi — ~100 m — the tiered 'Thunderer' of the Westfjords
The most powerful and most famous waterfalls
Why does Iceland have so many waterfalls?
Four things stack up. A cool, wet North Atlantic climate brings heavy year-round rain and snow, so there is always water to drain. Glaciers cover about a tenth of the country and pour meltwater into thousands of rivers each summer — many of the biggest falls are glacier-fed.
Then there is the rock. Sitting on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is built from stacked basalt lava flows of differing hardness; rivers cut the soft layers faster and leave hard ledges to fall over. And young, steep terrain — highland plateaus dropping suddenly to the lowlands and the sea — gives the water its height. Where lava cooled slowly it left the hexagonal basalt columns you see behind Svartifoss and Aldeyjarfoss.
What '-foss' means, and reading the names
Foss is Icelandic for 'waterfall' (from Old Norse fors; the plural is fossar), which is why it ends almost every name. Most names are a describing word plus -foss, so they become readable once you know a few pieces:
- Gullfoss — gull, gold ('Golden Falls')
- Goðafoss — goð, gods ('Waterfall of the Gods')
- Svartifoss — svartur, black ('Black Falls,' for the basalt)
- Dettifoss — detta, to tumble or collapse
- Skógafoss — skógar, woods ('Forest Falls')
- Háifoss — hár, high or tall ('Tall Falls')
